The municipality of Chisinau considers that the Baccalaureate exams should be held in classrooms in the institutions where the students studied. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca also believes that no surveillance cameras should be used as this runs counter to the presumption of innocence, IPN reports.

“The system problems of the state are put on students’ shoulders. It’s not right to suspect all the students of copying from the very beginning,” Dorin Chirtoaca said in the May 7 meeting of Chisinau City Hall officials.

The mayor said the students should be taught from the lower grades that copying means stealing, while the penalties should be tough both for those who copy and for those to give to copy. The state is obliged to ensure supervision methods that do not infringe the presumption of innocence. “Only if the student makes certain movements during the exam, which show that something is wrong, he/she can be suspected and checked,” said Dorin Chirtoaca.

The mayor considers that the punishment for those who try to cheat at Baccalaureate exams should be toughened up, including obliging the students to repeat the year. Though the municipality’s proposals weren’t accepted by the Education Ministry, the mayor insisted that they should be reiterated for the 2014 session.

The 2013 Baccalaureate session starts on June 3. The students will take exams in halls, gyms and festivity halls, where there will be installed surveillance cameras. Compared with last year, the Baccalaureate centers will be larger, for about 400-500 students. There will be set up 100 such centers.